Zayn Malik: One Direction Lied About Staying Friends

Shari Weiss

January 13, 2016

Zayn Malik accuses One Directionof lying about staying friends in a new interview. He claims he hasn’t “spoken to any of the boys.” What’s more, says Malik, he reached out to some of them, but they “haven’t even replied to any of my calls or texts.”

Malik is one of the cover stars for L’Uomo Vogue’s “Big In 2016” issue. The magazine, which is a sister publication to VogueItalia, gave the singer the honor for his highly-anticipated solo career. Malik, of course, infamously left One Direction a year ago.

As Gossip Cop reported, in a Billboard cover story released last week, Malik said he’s received no reply when he’s attempted to contact his former bandmates. Now, he goes even further, alleging the guys lied to the public when they suggested all was well between them. “The truth is I haven’t spoken to any of the boys at all really, I spoke to Liam [Payne] a bit and that’s just the way it is,” he tells L’Uomo Vogue.

Malik goes on to claim, “I did try to reach out to a couple of people and they didn’t get back to me, but then publicly, when they were asked questions about it, said that they’d spoken to me and that we were friends. But that’s not the case, I tried to reach out and be their friend but they haven’t even replied to any of my calls or texts.”

The singer also doesn’t speak too highly about his years in the group, saying, “To be honest, I mentally and physically distanced myself from what I was doing creatively because I didn’t want any part of it really. It didn’t feel like I was really being me.”

Still, Malik insists there’s “no competition between me and the boys,” noting, “I didn’t leave for any reasons of animosity, I just wanted to do me.” The British star adds, “I’ve sung with four other voices for over four years now so I want to hear myself, alone for once.”

Malik’s interview was published online Tuesday, the same day as his 23rd birthday. Gossip Cop has reached out to a rep for One Direction for comment.